DeMarzo’s Suit vs Former Prosecutor Goes to Trial

COURT HOUSE – In 2007, Gary DeMarzo was elected to Wildwood’s governing body as a commissioner. At the time he was serving as a police officer, a position from which he took an unpaid leave of absence.
What followed were several years of contention and litigation. 
The City of Wildwood took legal action to prevent DeMarzo from holding two municipal positions. The city’s attempt to compel DeMarzo to resign from one or the other position was thwarted by a Superior Court ruling that allowed DeMarzo to serve in both roles as long as he abided by court-ordered rules regarding recusal from voting on certain aspects of city business.
That ruling was then reversed on appeal in 2010. The Appellate Court ruled that DeMarzo had to choose which position he wished to keep. While that decision was under appeal, DeMarzo became mayor of Wildwood following a recall of the sitting mayor.
DeMarzo then attempted to remedy the conflict of interest between his position on the commission and his position in the Police Department by proposing a “voluntary layoff” from the police department. 
A trial court ruled that the proposed layoff plan did not comply with the Appellate Court ruling. The Appellate Court subsequently concurred with the trial judge that the layoff plan did not cure the conflict of interest. That decision dates to 2013.
While these matters were winding through the courts, DeMarzo was indicted three times by then-Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor. The first indictment was withdrawn, and the trial court judge dismissed the other two. The indictments involved $348 in public funds paid to attorney Samuel Lashman and approved by DeMarzo. The charge in the indictments was official misconduct. 
In 2018, the New Jersey Appellate Court upheld a decision that the indictments against DeMarzo were “unsustainable.”
That cleared the way for a trial in a suit for malicious prosecution filed by DeMarzo and Lashman against Taylor. 
Earlier attempts at mediation had failed. The trial was to begin on Sept. 4 over a decade after DeMarzo’s first election to the Wildwood governing body. 
DeMarzo ran for reelection in 2011 and lost. He was also unsuccessful in a bid for a commission seat in 2015.
Taylor left office as county prosecutor in 2017 after 13 years in the role.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.